Update on Attacks in Sudan

In February 2008, the Sudanese government and government-backed militia groups launched fresh attacks on civilians in Western Darfur, killing at least 180 civilians and causing more than 13,000 people to flee their homes and seek protection in internally displaced person (IDP) camps near the Chad border and in refugee camps inside Chad. Using aerial bombings and ground attacks, Sudanese armed forces and government-backed Janjaweed militia entered and took over villages, destroying homes, shops, and offices (including those of nongovernmental organizations), and killing civilians as they fled. Women were raped, families separated in the chaos, and villages burnt to the ground.

Although the current government of Sudan once supported the Chadian government, the two countries are now embroiled in conflict with each other. The government of Sudan has backed rebel groups in Chad that have made attempts to capture Chad's capital, N'Djamena. At the same time, the government of Chad has, since 2003, supported the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of Darfur's principal rebel groups. (While the JEM rebel group is supported by Chad, the SLA, also known as the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), is backed by Eritrea.) The JEM has reciprocated the support: in February 2008, JEM members moved into Chad to protect President Deby's government as it came under attack from Chadian rebels. As a consequence of JEM's rallying to support President Deby in Chad, Darfurian villages were left unprotected and were subsequently attacked.

Following the February 2008 attacks on Darfurian villages, the JEM launched attacks near Sudan's capital of Khartoum in early May. The rebel group succeeded in reaching the adjacent old city of Omdurman before being repelled by Sudanese government troops. Analysis from civil society groups working in Sudan indicates that the JEM wanted to bring the war, which has raged silently for five years in Darfur, to Khartoum so that the plight of Darfurians could no longer be ignored. Although the Sudanese army forced the rebel group to retreat, the JEM has vowed to repeat its attacks on the capital.

In response to the JEM's attacks, the government of Sudan initially conducted mass arrests in Khartoum and Omdurman, rounding up persons it believed to be associated with Darfur's rebel groups. These government actions soon expanded to systematic roundups, interrogation, and detention of Darfurian civilians not expressly linked to Darfur's rebel groups.

Human Rights Watch and the Save Darfur Alliance have reported instances of torture and summary execution of individuals who have been detained. Targets have included Darfurian university students, businesses, offices and homes in Khartoum and Omdurman. More than 100 individuals remain in detention, and an unconfirmed 27 executions have taken place. Many Darfurians in Khartoum are afraid to leave their homes as a result of the crackdown. There is deep concern that the government has included civilians in its response to the armed rebel attacks and that these recent incidents represent a crackdown on Darfurians at large.

In the geographical region of Darfur, itself, the government of Sudan closed air space for several days, hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid to affected populations. On May 12, 2008, government-backed militia groups reportedly launched an attack on the town of Tawila.

The JEM's attacks on Omdurman signify an escalation in the developing proxy war between Chad and Sudan, as well as an escalation of the armed conflict in Darfur. The complexity of the situation calls for a multi-track approach. One should address relations between Chad and Sudan and their wider regional implications, while simultaneously addressing the conflict in Darfur itself. Peace is unlikely in Sudan if individual conflicts within the country continue to be treated separately. It is therefore essential that Sudan engage in a comprehensive and inclusive peace process that engages affected communities and that Darfur be brought under the umbrella of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA 2004).

In the short term, it can be expected that the conflict in Darfur will worsen as the Sudanese government and the militias it supports retaliate against the JEM and other Darfurian rebel groups. UUSC remains deeply concerned about attacks on civilians in Darfur and in Khartoum and emphasizes the ever-more urgent need for UNAMID to become an effective force that is capable of protecting Darfurian civilians. UUSC remains committed to seeing an effective peacekeeping force in Darfur that responds to the conflict's most vulnerable populations.